pondering around the Internet.

So, rolling back to 2004 and I’m sitting in a meeting… We’re talking about the design and build of the next generation data centre and what we can offer with the most cutting edge tech at our disposal.
So I said we should get on to Microsoft and offer pay-as-you go or ‘in with your contract’ Microsoft Office applications as a web-based entity…
You may notice that Microsoft now offer this service free of charge with Hotmail etc.

Well this is what is now termed as the “Virtualization” part of Cloud Computing. And has effectively been the missing link. What I mean is, outside of your Windows, Mac or Linux based operating systems you have no need to actually own multi hundred-dollar software items on the volatile platform of your PC or laptop – they’re all online and you pay a $1 or 2 every time you use them.
This saves you the user a fortune, yet the software is always the very latest available. You then store and back up your work online so by default you have a complete disaster recover system – irrespective of the state of your home/end-user equipment, or if your house/office burns down or something.

So basically all you require is the personal device, pc, tablet, laptop or phone to access everything you need on the web without requiring tons of software etc. The simplest way is to say the difference between ordinary email and webased email like Google Mail, Hotmail and Yahoo etc. It does not mater where you are in the world, you can access everything online that is yours. Likewise, companies simply don’t require tons of data storage infrastructure with regards non-sensitive information. That, like your web-based emails etc are all online – or, in the Cloud… As such, main software applications will and in some cases all ready do appear inside your web brouser.

HOWEVER…. It recent years we have all been fooled into believes that ultra fast broadband is vital to the future… Well the only reason it is, is because all future TV and entertainment will be web-based and High Def, takes a lot of bandwidth to watch in realtime.
But the bandwidth isn’t the real issue here – what is, is data centre capacity… And right now most ISP’s have over subscribed their systems and they can’t cope with demand.
As such they’re bringing in, and in most cases have brought in ‘Fair Usage Policies” which is their way of flaunting their inability to provide unlimited usage that they advertised and sold to you – the customer.The benchmark usage figure is 40 gigabytes of allowable downloads a month… And that figure is simply not conducive for now, the near future – and most certainly not for Cloud Computing….
And then the mobile operators who are limiting the mobile internet to around 500 mb per month… yet as we finally start the roll out both WiMax and 4G products… we’re looking at a limitless amount of bandwidth which our ISP’s simply can’t handle….

Yes I can sit here and whinge about ISP’s and how I perpetually have ground breaking ideas in meetings that others make a fortune from and I don’t due to my inability to communicate in the right way, to the right level – or by the fact that everyone likes milking your ideas and sticking their names on it…. But the reality is, companies like Dell now have off the shelf plug-in and go, all-in-one Data Centre solutions ready for nationwide and global deployment – so why are we being screwed with fair usage limits???
It’s basically money for old rope – they limit us, cutting down their overheads and making a greater profit while we suffer crap from customer service teams.

Cloud Computing is ready, but it’s time governments started kicking the butts of the ISP/Telco’s